Gustavus Adolphus College’s “Diversity Leadership Council” has admitted posting racist signs around the campus in what the council is now claiming was a “social experiment.”
The racially offensive, brightly colored signs stated:
A NOTICE
TO ALL WHITE AMERICANS
IT IS YOUR CIVIC DUTY
TO REPORT ANY AND ALL
ILLEGAL ALIENS
TO U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
THEY ARE CRIMINALS
AMERICA IS A WHITE NATION
The racist rhetoric immediately elicited a reaction from angry students and alumni who reported the signs to Gustavus Adolphus’ Bias Response Team.
Some called the posters “disgusting,” while others simply wrote, “F***. That.” “One alumna even posted on Facebook that her cousin had discovered the signs at Beck Academic Hall and reported it to the school’s Bias Response Team, remarking that ‘it isn’t much of a surprise something like this was posted’ at that particular building,” notes Campus Reform. Professors should “take five minutes from tomorrow’s lesson plan to talk about how f***ed up this is with their students,” added the alumna.
It then came to light that the posters were not put up by racists, but stupid social justice warriors attempting to spread awareness. Or something.
On Tuesday, Dean of Students Jones VanHecke told the outraged alumna that the posters were “part of a series of educational ‘invisible theater’ events taking place this week that have been planned by I Am We Are theater troupe, the Diversity Leadership Team, and the Bystander Intervention Committee.”
VanHecke thanked the alumna for her “action.”
“I cannot thank you enough for the action that you have taken by filing a report and making sure that the incident was brought to the attention of the college,” he said. “[A] bystander demonstrates that Gustavus students care about each other and their collegiate environment and are willing to take a stand against hate and bias.”
When students and alumni rightfully became angered over the fake racist posters, the Diversity Leadership Council issued a statement owning up to the moronic stunt:
We posted these signs and accompanying A-frames with bystander intervention tips in academic buildings on campus in an effort to help educate our peers and campus community about issues of bias, and the importance of being an active bystander. We want to help put an end to bias-related incidents that happen on our campus, social media, and in our communities by forcing individuals to have dialogues about forms of hate and bias. We hope that members of the campus community will reflect on today’s events and join us in ensuring that no one student or group of students are ever a victim of this form of discrimination. We ask that everyone help prevent bias on-campus by educating yourself on ways to report bias, staying informed about bias incidents that have occurred, and assisting the Bias Response Team in identifying perpetrators. This can all be accomplished by visiting the college’s Bias Response Team website. We also hope that everyone will be an active bystander and utilize the 3-Ds (Direct, Delegate, Distract) as encouraged by the Bystander Intervention Team. We understand that the language in these images may be hurtful – we apologize to those who were negatively impacted.
Moronic. As National Review’s Katherine Timpf notes, why are these SJWs creating fake problems instead of trying to solve real ones?
“Hey, kids? If you want to ‘help put an end to bias-related incidents that happen on our campus,’ how about you address those incidents instead of distracting from them by making up a fake one?” writes Timpf. “Seriously — just what is bringing awareness to a fake issue going to solve? It’s not going to help solve that issue, because — and sorry if I’m blowing your mind here — a problem has to actually exist in order for you to be able to solve it.”
Others on campus were equally unsatisfied with the “experiment.”
“Sometimes I walk around crowded theaters yelling ‘fire!’” one commenter wrote on social media. “I do it because I want to create awareness; thus no punishment is warranted.”
“You hurt a lot of people, tarnished the college’s reputation, and will be losing alumni donations. I hope it was worth it,” said an alumna, before adding that she won’t be donating to the school “anytime soon.”
